Indiana 73, Michigan State 51 (Final)

Indiana had little trouble pulling away from a Michigan State team that has dealt with injuries and inconsistency all year.

————–

9:14, second half: Indiana 58, Michigan State 41

The Hoosiers have yet to make a turnover this half. They had five in the first half

————

11:56, second half: Indiana 55, Michigan State 40

Everything is working for the Hoosiers. They responded to Michigan State’s quick run and are pulling away.

————-

16:57, second half: Indiana 42, Michigan State 35

After a strong start to the half — a D.J. White block, some hustle defense for easy baskets — Indiana has just allowed Michigan State into the paint for two easy basket and watched as Drew Neitzel hit a 3-pointer.

——————

Half time: Indiana 38, Michigan State 27
Convincing first half. If the Hoosiers were hitting 3s like they did in Columbus this would be an ugly game.

Michigan State will make a run, though.

—————-

3:06, first half: Indiana 31, Michigan State 23

How about that pass Xavier Keeling made after his steal? He went toward the basket with Calloway and gunned a one-handed bounce pass to him.

—————-

6:52, first half: Indiana 25, Michigan State 19

Oh, Errek Suhr, how these fans so love you.

Suhr hit a 3-pointer and dove into the crowd to make a save. (I will mention only parenthetically that he also got beat on defense).

——————

11:55, first half: Indiana 14, Michigan State 13

You remember your first coach saying it, I’m sure: basketball is a game of runs. Michigan State just answered with one of their own to get back into it.

The Spartans are much deeper and it’s very obvious. They’re running 6-8 or 6-10 guys onto the floor, while the Hoosiers bring out 6-6 Mike White.

—————–

15:20, first half: Indiana 12, Michigan State 4

The Hoosiers just used a 8-point run to build a lead. D.J. White had a monster one-handed slam that made this place go crazy.

So this is what Indiana basketball is really like. These fans really get into it for conference games.

——————

19:29, first half: Lots of action in the first 30 seconds. White went right at Ibok and drew a foul. On his way down he inadvertently elbowed Travis Walton.

Walton was down on the floor for a few seconds and just left to be attended to.

Interesting to note that Michigan State is starting Idong Ibok, a 6-11 senior who has started only half the games this year. They’re going to try to beat Indiana with size (or at least try to win the tip).
—————–

The CBS cameras are getting into position, and the cheerleaders are running the crowd through some sort of new ritual. The feeling here is completely different than it was for the non-conference games. Student section is still sparse, but many of them are just getting back in town today.

Post navigation

2 comments

A couple of notes: Philip Jurick, a highly recruited 6-foot-10, 250-pound high school junior from Tennessee, is at today’s game. Jurick is also being recruited by Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan, among others.